How the all-American pastime — the road trip — has become part of the immigrant family experience
Are we there yet?
This post originally appeared on Red, White and Brown’s newsletter on Substack (Issue #57 sent on March 18, 2023).
With the spring break season here, I can’t help but be reminded of childhood road trips — often across the Rocky Mountains, other times through the plains of the Midwest, as well as the seasonal trip to the Hanuman temple near ski town Taos. We’d often pile our minivan with snacks and coolers full of lemon rice, veggie curries, yogurt and potato chips. The cassette player would blast Tamil tunes of the 1990s. I, inevitably, had my nose in a library book, flashlight nearby in case we’d drive through dusk. “Are we there yet?” would echo every few hours.
Journalist Meena Venkataramanan recently wrote a beautiful piece in The Washington Post about her family’s frequent road trips across national parks — and how the parks reflect America’s unique immigrant history.
For immigrants like us, the country’s national parks, often heralded as “America’s best idea,” are more than picturesque retreats into the great outdoors. They have helped us define and shape our own American consciousness long before we had U.S. passports. They allow us to see ourselves in America’s evolving landscape.
The essay explains how Venkataramanan’s father takes his oath of allegiance to the United States in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona. It’s definitely worth checking out in the Post.
Other interesting things this past week:
- Asian creatives saw some good representation in this year’s Oscars — including a Deepika Padukone appearance, a Documentary Short Film win for “The Elephant Whisperers,” and of course the multiple wins for “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The performance of Telugu hit “Naatu Naatu” livened up the show (and won Best Original Song) — but has been getting heat for not featuring South Asian dancers.
- Read more via The Washington Post: “The real winners of this year’s Oscars are Asian American weirdos”
- For historical context, this is a good piece via TIME: “The complex history of Asian representation at the Oscars”
- “Amid mass layoffs, tech workers in the U.S. on H-1B visas are scrambling to find new roles.” (Rest of World)
- “Is the umbrella term ‘Asian American’ even accurate anymore?” (NBC Asian America)
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